Growl

  A big black wolf limped inside and stopped a few feet in front of her. Lacey’s breath caught in her throat and her first instinct was to use her powers to throw the wolf back out the door. She lifted her arm and was about to do just that when Tonya yelled from behind her, “No, Lacey! It’s Jesse.”

  Lacey dropped her arms to her side and stared at the wolf. She didn’t see any resemblance between it and Jesse. She looked over her shoulder to Kindal for reassurance. “Don’t be afraid, Lacey. It really is Jesse” she said in a calm tone.

  Lacey turned back to the wolf as it slowly approached her. Even knowing that it was Jesse, she was fighting hard not to lash out at him. She couldn’t hide her fear of having a wolf standing so close to her, especially after her experience over the last couple of days with them. But then Jesse looked up at her and she saw his mesmerizing green eyes. The pain she saw in them made her completely forget her own fear. She reached out and touched him on the head. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

  Jesse couldn’t take his eyes off of Lacey. The fear on her face tore at his heart. Was she afraid of him or for him? He didn’t know which and that bothered him. He limped around behind her and nudged her toward the stairs with his nose. She looked down at him then at everyone else in the room, unsure of what to make of him pushing her.

  “He wants you to go upstairs” Tonya said.

  “Then why doesn’t he turn back into a human and say so” Lacey said sarcastically and looked down at Jesse. He nudged her again.

  “He doesn’t want to shift in front of us. He’ll be naked” Scotty said with a chuckle. “And I don’t know about everyone else but I for one appreciate his consideration for us, because I definitely don’t want to see him naked again.”

  Jesse looked at Scotty and growled before turning his attention back to Lacey. He pushed her with his nose again. And she finally climbed the upstairs and entered his room. Jesse limped past her into the bathroom.

  Lacey stayed in the doorway of the room feeling a little uneasy as she waited for Jesse to come out of the bathroom. A few minutes later, he came out in human form with a towel wrapped around his waist and a rag around his arm. The once white rag was now red with his blood. Lacey hurried over to him. “What happened?” she asked.

  Jesse didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed a bandage from a box on top of his dresser. He dropped the rag and tried to wrap the bandage around his arm but it wasn’t easy to do with one hand. Normally, he wouldn’t even bother with tending to his wounds but he didn’t want to scare Lacey by letting her see his arm heal itself. His genetics allowed him to heal much faster than humans and in just a few hours his wound would be nothing more than a scar.

  “Here let me help you” Lacey said and reached for the bandage.

  Jesse stepped away from her. “No. I can do it.”

  He tried to wrap it again but couldn’t get it right. Lacey took the bandage from him. “Sit down!” she ordered and pointed to the bed.

  Jesse stared at her for a minute then reluctantly sat down. For some reason he didn’t understand, he was angry at her for being afraid of him, even though he knew he had no right to be. She wasn’t one of his kind and up until a few days ago, she didn’t even know that people like him existed. She had every right to be terrified of him. So why did her fear hurt him so much?

  “You don’t have to do this. I can manage on my own.”

  Lacey narrowed her eyes at him. “What is your problem? Why are you acting like a jerk?” she asked as she wrapped the bandage securely around his arm.

  Jesse looked up at her with accusing eyes. “You’re afraid of me. I can feel it. And I can hear your heart racing in your chest.” He looked away so that she wouldn’t see the pain on his face.

  Lacey rested her hand on his cheek and turned his head toward her. She stared into his eyes for a minute before speaking. “You’re right, my heart is racing, but not because I’m afraid of you. It’s racing because I was afraid that you were hurt. When Trevor, Scotty and the cousins came back without you, I thought that I was never going to see you again.”

  “When you saw me in my wolf form, you were scared of me so don’t say that you weren’t” he said.

  Lacey nodded. “Yes, I was at first but only because I wasn’t sure that it was you. But once I saw your eyes, I knew.” She sat down on his lap to show that she wasn’t afraid of him and ran her hand through his jet black hair. “The wolf is a part of who you are Jesse and I can accept that, just like you have accepted me for who I am. You are a good person and I’m so very lucky to know you” she said and gently kissed his lips.

  Jesse listened as Lacey said all the things that he had hoped she would say. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and eagerly returned her kiss. It made him feel good to hear that she accepted him and believed that he was a good man. But in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but wonder how she would feel about him if she ever found out the truth about his past. Would she still like him if she knew what he had done so many years ago? Would she understand his actions or would she turn against him?

  He had so much going on in his mind that it was impossible to think straight. It was only a matter of time before his home was going to be flooded with werewolves who were going to want to see Lacey changed or killed. He still had to worry about Cole coming for her again and now he had to face the fact that the worst thing possible was actually happening, he was falling in love with a human.

  He eased his arm under her legs and lifted Lacey from his lap. Then gently laid her down on the bed and cuddled up beside her. Neither of them said a word as they enjoyed being in each other’s arms. Jesse’s heart raced in his chest as Lacey’s scent washed over him. How had one little human managed to affect him so much in such a short time?

  *****

  Cole watched as Sasha cleaned the wound on Zack’s shoulder. “Looks like my brother isn’t as weak as I thought he was. He managed to whip your ass pretty good.”

  Zack sneered at him. “He got lucky, that’s all. I was distracted but it won’t happen again.”

  Sasha dropped the bloody rag to the floor. “Cole’s right. There’s no excuse for Jesse to have gotten the upper hand. He was distracted by me killing the human woman. He didn’t even know you were there until you lunged at him. Face it, he’s just a better fighter than you.”

  Zack growled at her and she grabbed him by the hair. “You better watch yourself, newbie. If you ever growl at me again, I’ll rip your tongue out.”

  Cole chuckled and left the two of them glaring at each other. He found Kevin in the backroom. It was a small space, decked out just like a jail cell, completely empty of all furnishings, except a full size mattress on the floor in the corner and a chain attached to a steel plate on the floor in the middle of the room.

  Cole looked at the human man that was chained to the floor then at Kevin. “Is he the only survivor tonight?”

  Kevin didn’t say anything. Cole narrowed his eyes at him. “What? What aren’t you telling me?”

  “We can only account for four of the six humans from tonight’s hunt, including this one.” Kevin pointed at the man on the chain. “Two are missing. We’ve combed through the woods several times. Jesse and his pack must have taken them.”

  Cole ground his teeth together and cocked his head to the side, popping his neck to relieve built up tension. “Jesse is really starting to piss me off” he spat then knelt down in front of the man who was about to become his newest pack member. He studied the man’s athletic build and youthful appearance. “What is your name?” he asked.

  “Steven” the man said with a shaky voice.

  “Well Steven, you did well tonight. You put up a good chase and managed to keep yourself alive. I was told that you even put up a decent fight with one of my wolves. That’s not something that’s easy to do, especially for a human. I think you will make a good addition to my little family” Cole said and stood to leave the room.

  “I don’t want to join your damn family! I
want to go home!” Steven yelled.

  “You are home” Kevin said and followed Cole from the room just as two of their pack members walked in, in their wolf forms. Kevin turned off the lights and locked the door from the outside. Within seconds, growls and screams filled the room as the two wolves bit into Steven again and again.

  Kevin leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Cole. “You know, all of Jesse’s pack was in the woods except for the two females. He must have left them with Lacey. We could have taken her from them and it would have been so easy.”

  Cole nodded. “I know. We missed a golden opportunity, but now I know how to get another one.” He smiled and called Sasha over to him.

  “What?” she asked and ran her hand down his cheek. He pushed it away.

  “I want you to get word out to everybody that there is going to be another hunt tomorrow.”

  Sasha stared at him with her hands on her hips. “It’s too soon to have another hunt. We took six humans tonight, if we take more so soon it’ll raise a lot of attention.”

  “We’re not actually going to hunt. I just want Jesse to think that we are. Drop hints to everyone that the hunt will be on the east side of town. That should be far enough away that by the time they realize their information is bad, it’ll be too late. I’ll have Lacey and Jesse will have two less pack members to aggravate us. If Tonya and Kindal get in our way, we’ll kill them.”

  The screaming in the backroom stopped and Kevin opened the door. Steven was lying unconscious on the floor bleeding from the bite wounds that had been inflicted on his arms and legs. The two wolves shifted back into their human forms and walked out the door.

  “I hope you two didn’t kill him” Cole said to Gabe and Finn.

  Both men smiled. “No, but he’s going to wish we did when he shifts. The first time is a real bitch. Let’s hope that he’s strong enough to handle it” Gabe said as he walked into the other room.

  Cole chuckled and patted Kevin on the back as they walked off by themselves. “I want Steven moved from that room as soon as possible. Give him to one of the older pack members and tell them to help him though the transition. I want to use the holding room for Lacey. You’ve seen her powers, so make sure the bars on the windows are secure and the glass is shatterproof. Once we get her in there, I don’t want her to be able to escape.”

  Kevin nodded and turned to leave. Cole grabbed his arm and looked away uncomfortably. “I want Lacey to feel comfortable. Go to the store and get her some things like...makeup, chocolates, a couple romance books. Hell, I don’t know... just get whatever you think human women like.”

  Kevin growled and lifted his lip in disgust. “I don’t know what human women like and I really don’t care.”

  “Well, neither do I, but I figure the more comfortable she is here, the more likely she is to cooperate with me. So do as you’re told” Cole snapped.

  *****

  After a long nights sleep, Jesse and Lacey walked down the stairs holding hands. They joined the others in the kitchen. Tonya had already fixed their plates and had breakfast waiting on the table.

  Jesse sat down and was about to take a bite of eggs when Trevor spoke up. “What do you want us to do with the unconscious boy? I’ve already taken the man we found in the tree to his home. I questioned him and he didn’t see Cole’s men or any of us shift so I don’t think he’s going to be a problem. I told him that the people who kidnapped him were a gang and if he told anyone about what happened in the woods they would come after him again. I’m pretty sure I scared him enough that he’ll keep his mouth shut. But the boy that Devon and Tyron found still hasn’t woken up. He was bitten.”

  Jesse dropped his fork to the plate and jumped up from his chair. “What! Why didn’t anyone tell me one of the humans was bitten?”

  “You needed to be alone and we aren’t helpless. You know, we do know how to deal with a newbie” Scotty said and reached across the table to grab a biscuit.

  Jesse shot him a mean look. “Where is he?”

  “He’s in the backroom” Trevor said and followed Jesse to the room behind the kitchen.

  Kindal was sitting on the edge of the bed with a wet rag in her hand. She wiped it over the boy’s face and neck to help keep his temperature down.

  Jesse looked at him. “He can’t be more than sixteen or seventeen. What was Cole thinking? He knows the younger they are when they’re changed, the harder it is to control them.”

  “Yeah well, I guess Sasha thought getting younger humans would make the hunt more interesting. They’re stronger and faster than older humans” Kindal said.

  Trevor looked at Jesse. “What are we going to do with him?”

  “I guess we’ll have to let him stay with us, at least for a while. He needs someone to teach him and we can’t just let him go. He’ll probably end up back with Cole’s pack and the last thing we need is for his pack to get any bigger.”

  “I’ll teach him” Kindal volunteered in a low voice as she rubbed the rag down his arms. “He’ll be going through his first shifting soon. Maybe you should get Lacey out of the warehouse for a little while. He’s going to be confused and unable to control himself, it could be dangerous for her.”

  Jesse thought about it for a minute. He had kept Lacey held up in the warehouse for almost a week and he knew she wanted to go outside. “Alright, I’ll take her on a tour around town. Make sure the boy is stable and chained before I return.”

  “We’ll take care of him” Trevor said.

  Jesse walked out of the room and into the kitchen. Lacey was already finished with her breakfast and was talking and laughing with Tonya. He leaned against the counter and watched her. The sound of her laughter filled his ears. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Lacey turned around and saw him looking at her and smiled. Jesse felt as if his heart was going to burst from his chest.

  Lacey got up from the table and joined him at the counter. “Is the boy okay?”

  “He will be” Jesse said and squeezed her hand gently. “How would you like to get out of here for a little while? I thought you might like a tour of the city. It’s a lot safer during the day.”

  Lacey let out a squeal and smiled broadly. “I’d love to go out” she said and quickly turned around and looked at Tonya and Scotty. “Not that I don’t enjoy spending time with everyone here. I mean you guys are all great but I really would like to get out for a while.”

  Tonya laughed. “We understand Lacey, go and have some fun.”

  Lacey hugged her and ran upstairs to put on her shoes. Jesse waited until she was out of sight before turning to Scotty. “I’ll have my cell phone with me all day. Call me when it’s safe to bring her back.”

  “Don’t worry, we have everything under control. Just have a good time.”

  Lacey came down the stairs and grabbed Jesse’s hand and pulled him towards the door. “Let’s go” she said anxiously.

  Jesse laughed and let her lead him outside. Lacey shielded her eyes from the bright light with her hand. She hadn’t been outside in so long that the light actually hurt her eyes. She looked around to see where they were but didn’t see anything. There was nothing around the warehouse but woods. Tree’s surrounded both sides and the rear of the building. And a small two lane road passed by in front of it with even more tree’s on the opposite side of the road. She looked at Jesse. “Where are we?”

  He gave her an odd look then remembered that she had been unconscious when he brought her to the warehouse and she hadn’t been outside since. “We are about ten miles outside of Carol Springs. And no one else lives within at least six or seven miles from here.”

  Lacey glanced around the big empty dirt yard in front of her. “How did we get here? Where’s your car?”

  Jesse smiled. “The garage is around back” he said and led her to the rear of the warehouse and opened the garage door.

  Lacey’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the four motorcycles in the middle of the
large room. She wasn’t a motorcycle enthusiast and had never ridden on one, but even she had to admit the beauty of what she saw. She walked over to the green motorcycle and rubbed her hand over the black leather seat.

  “Is that the one you like?” Jesse asked as he leaned against the door frame, watching her.

  She smiled. “Green is my favorite color.”

  “Mine too, but I would have thought yours was black” Jesse said and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

  Lacey cringed a little. She wanted to tell him that black was just easier to hide behind but instead she just smiled.

  “You ready to go?” Jesse asked and kissed the tender skin of her neck, sending chills down her spine.

  She turned in his arms and pressed her lips to his. “Absolutely.”

  Jesse straddled the motorcycle and Lacey got on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. After starting the bike, Jesse peeled out of the garage and down the road toward town.

  Twenty minutes later, he pulled over to the curb on Main Street, in front of a long line of shops and restaurants. “Where would you like to go?” he asked Lacey.

  She glanced around at the possibilities. “Um...I don’t know.”

  Jesse chuckled and got off the motorcycle then held his hand out to Lacey. “How about we go for a walk, do a little sightseeing, maybe some shopping.”

  “I would love to go shopping but in case you forgot, the first time we met I was stealing fruit to eat. I don’t have any money.” It was clear by redness that rushed to her cheeks that she was still embarrassed by how they met.

  Jesse put his arm around her shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be my treat.”

  They walked through the business district of downtown for hours, stopping to browse at almost every shop they passed. Lacey was having the time of her life. Just spending time with Jesse meant more to her than anything he tried to buy for her. And he tried to buy her a lot of stuff, but she wouldn’t let him. She wasn’t used to anyone buying things for her and she didn’t want to take advantage of his generosity.